At the start of the month, the Big Island hadn’t won a game in the Division I state football tournament.
Thanks to a Hilo comeback Saturday night, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation can now claim a championship.
Vikings running back Kahale Huddleston ran for two touchdowns, quarterback Kaleo Apao threw for two scores and ran for another and Hilo overcame a 13-point deficit to capture the BIIF’s first state title with a 35-19 win over Damien in the Division I final of the HHSAA/First Hawaiian Bank State Football Championship.
“This is for Hilo, the Big Island and all the schools on the Big Island,” Apao said.
Saturday’s victory at Aloha Stadium punctuated a Viking conquest that began with a statement 62-35 win over ‘Iolani in their first trip to Oahu back in early August.
“That set the tone a lot,” Huddleston said. “We just wanted to keep going forward each day at practice … so we could get here.”
Huddleston finished with 145 total yards (91 rushing, 54 receiving) while Apao ran for 98 yards on 20 attempts and completed eight of 13 pass attempts for 134 yards and two second-half touchdowns to effectively seal the title.
Apao also played safety and recovered a momentum-building fumble early in the second quarter.
“Kaleo’s a baller,” Hilo coach Kaeo Drummondo said. “He played all three phases tonight. … So not only did he have to orchestrate our offense, he was running all over the secondary all night. We couldn’t have asked him to do a single thing more.”
With the Aloha Stadium crowd still buzzing over Lahainaluna’s seven-overtime win over Konawaena in the Division II final, Damien injected even more adrenaline into the evening when Akila Arecchi returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. The Monarchs extended the lead when quarterback Marcus Faufata-Pedrina capped an 11-play march with a 1-yard sneak at the 3:09 mark of the first quarter.
“We were pretty stoked after that — the blocking was pretty good and we got another touchdown,” Arecchi said.
Huddleston turned the momentum with a 20-yard touchdown run, and his 12-yard score in the second quarter gave Hilo a lead the Vikings refused to relinquish.
Hilo defensive back Micah Bello shadowed Faufata-Pedrina for much of the night and finished with a game-high 11 tackles, including a stop on a 2-point conversion attempt after Damien closed to 21-19 midway through the third quarter.
“Just whatever hole I saw, I just had to hit it and stop him,” Bello said.
Hilo answered with a 12-play drive, with Apao connecting with Kainalu Tioganco. After Bello forced a fumble with nine minutes left in the fourth, Apao hit Makana Kanehailua on a 21-yard fade for the game’s final touchdown.
Faufata-Pedrina finished his career with 27 rushing yards and 172 through the air, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Natividad. But the three-time ILH D-II champion Monarchs couldn’t overcome two lost fumbles and an interception in the program’s appearance in a state final since falling to Aiea in the inaugural Division II championship game in 2003.
“Obviously we want to get a win, but Hilo did a great job tonight,” Damien coach Eddie Klaneski said. “We made too many mistakes in the second half. We got the game in close and we didn’t let it get too far away, but fumbles and interceptions hurt. You can’t win games when you lose the turnover battle. Coach Kaeo did a lot of great things we couldn’t adjust to.”
Damien (10-4) 13 0 6 0 — 19
Hilo (10-1) 7 14 7 7 — 35
First quarter
Dam—Akila Arecchi 94 kickoff return (kick failed)
Dam—Marcus Faufata-Pedrina 1 run (Shiloh Kaeo kick)
Hilo—Kahale Huddleston 20 run (Kahaku Tolentino-Perry kick)
Second quarter
Hilo—Huddleston 12 run (Tolentino-Perry kick)
Hilo—Kaleo Apao 22 run (Tolentino-Perry kick)
Third quarter
Dam—Jarvis Natividad 19 pass from Faufata-Pedrina (run failed)
Hilo—Kainalu Tioganco 5 pass from Apao (Tolentino-Perry kick)
Fourth quarter
Hilo—Makana Kanehailua 21 pass from Apao (Tolentino-Perry kick)
DMS | Hilo
- First downs: 13, 18
- Rushes-yards: 25-81, 45-180
- Passing: 172, 134
- Comp-Att-Int: 15-33-1, 8-13-0
- Punts-Avg.: 4-37.8, 5-37.6
- Fumbles-Lost: 2-2, 0-0
- Penalties-Yards: 5-50, 7-37
- Time of Possession: 21:36, 26:24
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Damien: Keoua Kauhi 10-45, Faufata-Pedrina 13-27, Arecchi 1-6, Pomai Kim 1-3. Hilo: Apao 20-98, Huddleston 19-91, Kaipo Ramos 1-0, Tioganco 1-(minus-1), TEAM 1-(minus 8).
PASSING—Damien: Faufata-Pedrina 15-32-1-172, TEAM 0-1-0-0. Hilo: Apao 8-13-0-134
RECEIVING—Damien: Arecchi 3-46, Natividad 3-32, Logan Lauti 3-25, Lindon Sevilleja 2-31, Kim 2-28, Kauhi 2-10. Hilo: Huddleston 4-54, Tioganco 2-29, Kalae Akui 1-30, Kanehailua 1-21.
